My most recent Oregonian column highlighting the epic cautionary tale of Lauren Campbell -- the Portland State University student whose Volvo was towed because of the previous owner’s unpaid parking tickets -- elicited a great deal of reader response.

I knew that people hated parking tickets. But I was surprised by how much animosity exists for the people who stick those nasty little yellow envelopes under windshields and the tow companies that operate in the city.

It should be noted that Tristan Roff, the unemployed barista who racked up $2,300 in unpaid parking tickets on the 1988 Volvo wagon before selling it to Campbell for $800, paid the bail so that she could get a hearing to formally plead her case before the court.

We’re still puzzled why Harold Blank, the traffic court referee who first heard Campbell’s pleas and saw documentation proving she owned the car, didn’t have the compassion to release the vehicle. The court records aren't clear. Maybe he saw the station wagon as the only tool to help the city get what it's owed by Roff.

At any rate, a week after the bail was paid, Campbell is still waiting on a court date. As of Wednesday, she seemed ready to cut her losses, especially since Sergeant’s towing had given her until only Thursday to pay off $700 in impound fees before the Volvo is auctioned off.

“I’ll have to move on,” she said. “I have papers to write and finals coming up. I need to put my energy back into my classes and finding a job.”

Fortunately, at least one kind reader has stepped forward to offer Campbell one of his cars:

Read with interest the saga of one Lauren Campbell and her unfortunate encounter(s) with the likes of Portland's courts/"judges" and even worse that bottom feeder scumbag, Seargets Towing. Two questions come to mind: 1) Why does PSU contract with the worst of the worst for towing for alleged parking ticket delinquency(ies)? 2) there is little, if any justice to be had in the Portland/ Multnomah courts--just a blind adherence to their interpretation of "the law", regardless of the circumstances. And, sad to say, The Oregonian has done little reporting, if any to set the record straight in these regards. Now, as far as Ms. Campbell's plight, if she wants, I have a 1990 Subaru in excellent shape that is hers, gratis, if she wants it, with NO encumbrances whatsoever.

Regards,John WittePortland

Two things: The city, not PSU, called the tow truck in this case. And doesn’t the fact that I wrote a column about Campbell’s saga contradict the assertion that The Oregonian doesn’t keep an eye on the courts? (We most certainly do.) But I digress. I’ve passed Campbell’s phone number on to Mr. Witte (with her permission of course).

Readers also seemed to like my idea of requiring vehicle owners to pay off their tickets before selling:

Hi Joseph,Thanks for the heads up on the parking ticket issue. I especially like your idea of requiring tickets to be paid before selling a car.I was just finishing a note to Portland Police about a parking ticket I received last night:

Hello Officer Sasnett,You might find this a strange note, but I wanted to thank you for giving me a parking ticket last night…and I really do mean that. I am new to Portland and didn’t realize that I was parking in a bike lane near Reed College because so many other cars were parked there. When I first saw the $80 fine, I thought “holy cow!” but the more I thought about it I am really glad that the fine is steep. You may have noticed that my Ohio plate is “SHARE RD.” I’ve been doing bike/ped advocacy and public events for a number of years in Cleveland and moved to Portland specifically because of the support for cycling here.So…I’m sure you hear plenty of complaints from people when they get tickets…I just wanted to be supportive of your efforts and say Thank You.Lois Mossbtw…I normally would have ridden or walked the 3 miles from my house to Reed College, but I couldn’t last night. In the future, I will plan better and walk, bike or take Tri-Met. Thanks for being part of making Portland a place where people want to live.

Another BTW, Joseph,...I am really enjoying my morning Oregonian. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is a fine newspaper, but the Oregonian is head and shoulders above the PD.

Regards,Lois Moss

I found your article most interesting today because as a DMV employee I see problems moving in the opposite direction. People sell, or worse donate, their old cars and keep no records of who purchased them. DMV charges late fees if the title is not changed within thirty days of purchase but sellers don't realize that some buyers will continue to drive the car until the tags expire.Every day, I tell customers that if you sell a car, donate a car or even trade a car in, it stays in your name until some else titles it in their name. If the car is involved in an accident, is impounded or gets a photo radar ticket, guess who will be getting the bill.I recently had a customer who sold his car to a Washington resident. Months later he is getting photo tickets because the driver likes to run the toll booth on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. At least once or twice a week, I get customers asking if a car was taken out of their name and I have seen people pay out hundreds of dollars to avoid collections.I hope you will warn your readers about this.These are my own personal opinions and I am in no way speaking on behalf of Oregon DMV.D. B.

Dear Joseph,

I read this article of yours with considerable interest, mainly because on the very same day it appeared I heard an eerily similar story from my daughter and son-in-law. About two years ago they sold their RV to a lady who told them she planned to live in it. They documented the sale in all the normal ways, tendering a bill of sale and signing over the registration papers. Recently they received a summons to pay hundreds of dollars in unpaid parking tickets to the city of Vancouver, along with impound fees, for violations that occurred after the sale date. It seems the lady never got around to registering the vehicle in her name, so Vancouver has decided the previous owner is now responsible for the fines and costs, even though they acknowledge they were not the responsible party and also acknowledge their records show the RV was sold a couple years ago. A complication seems to be that no one knows where this lady is now, or if she is even alive. Maybe Vancouver and Portland police departments could get together and swap these cases and get them off their books in that fashion.

One thing is definite - your solution of requiring people to pay off their tickets before they can sell a vehicle would not have helped in this case. Actually, in both cases, it seems a little common sense on the part of the officials would be in order.

Dick SlawsonPortland

Having lived most of my life on the East Coast, there must be something I am missing here. How does one buy a car and use the same license plates? I can't imagine how this is legal; any time you sold a car in NY, Ohio, or Maryland, there was no way to transfer the license plates along with the car to the new owner. In fact, I had to fight a ticket in NYC in which they claimed a car with my license plates was ticketed there -- it was easy to prove otherwise, as I had the paperwork from turning in the plates after selling the car.rmohrman

My response: Welcome to Oregon and Washington, where you get the license plate that comes with the car, unless you want a different plate. However, you are required to transfer the title and register a vehicle you purchased within 30 days.

Finally:

Hi Mr. Rose, Old Volvos run forever only if you keep up with the repairs, and those are expensive. A long time ago I bought a 1987 Volvo in 1994 for $4400, kept it going for 7 years and when I totaled up all I had spent on repairs I realized I had spent over $10,000. It would have been better for me to have bought a different vehicle. Eventually I sold it to someone for $200; it ran for another 4 months and died. So Ms. Campbell, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I do not recommend old Volvos for those with a limited income. Stashu Smaka

Well, we all know how I feel about my two Volvos. But as they say in Sweden: "Alla har rätt till sin åsikt."